Denise Brown, the sister of O.J. Simpson‘s ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson, spoke at a Virginia Beach benefit Thursday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of her sister’s slaying.

“She was a real person,” Brown said while wiping away tears.

Brown’s public profile as an anti-domestic violence advocate has mushroomed since the June 1994 slayings of her sister Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman, who would have turned 40 last year; Nicole would have turned 50 this week.

“We had the awareness of Nicole, and there was this big splash,” Brown told The Virginian Pilot prior to the speech. “Then, 15 years later, we had Chris [Brown] and Rihanna, and there was another big splash. How many more big splashes are we going to need before everyone wakes up?”